By cementing a legacy as one of the top coaches in the country at her alma mater, Laura Ianello has established Arizona Women’s Golf as a national power with an unrivaled postseason pedigree of success and championships. A national champion for the Wildcats as a player in 2000, Ianello has also added to the program’s legacy by guiding Arizona to the 2018 national championship as head coach.
The 2023-24 season, Ianello’s 14th at the helm of the program, was marked by record-breaking victories and performances on the golf course. The Wildcats won the Gators Invitational by an impressive 16 strokes and swept the tournament titles with Nena Wongthanavimok picking up her first collegiate win in Florida. Arizona picked up a second individual victory at the 18-hole Match in the Desert where Gile Bite Starkute won the event with a round of 64 that tied the lowest round ever carded by a Wildcat.
Arizona posted another 8-under round when freshman Charlotte Back shot a 64 in the second round of the Pac-12 Championships. Back matched Starkute and Haley Moore for the lowest round in school history as well as tying USC’s Catherine Park for the lowest round ever at Pac-12’s. Gile Bite Starkute and Carolina Melgrati went on to earn Pac-12 All-Conference Team selections while Nena Wongthanavimok was named All-Conference Honorable Mention.
The story of the 2022-23 season was Arizona playing its best golf at the end of the season that began with the young team’s stellar play at the Pac-12 Championships as the Wildcats finished in fourth place. Their momentum carried into the NCAA Raleigh Regional where Arizona won its sixth NCAA Regional Championship in program history and its first since 2010. Freshman Julia Misemer fired back-to-back rounds of 68 to end the week tied in second place. The runner-up finish by Misemer marked the best performance by a Wildcat at NCAA Regionals since Alison Walshe won 2008 UC Davis Regional.
The Wildcats punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships for the ninth time in 12 years under Ianello’s leadership with the win in Raleigh. Arizona would advance to the round of 15 teams in Scottsdale before finishing the season in a tie for ninth with freshman Nena Wongthanavimok carding a historic run at the NCAA Championships. Wongthanavimok finished tied for seventh after shooting 6-under for the week. She became the third Arizona freshman in the last 20 years to post a top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships, joining Haley Moore (2016) and Erica Blasberg (2003). Ianello’s efforts also led her to be named to the WGCA National Coach of the Year Watchlist in May.
The 2021-22 season was a tale of overcoming adversity for Ianello and the program as the Wildcats lost the All-American sister duo of Yu-Sang and Vivian Hou to the professional ranks in December after they qualified through the final stages of LPGA Q-School. Arizona would utilize a freshman-heavy lineup and still qualify for NCAA Regionals for a 29th consecutive season and come within strokes of advancing to the NCAA Championships for a fourth consecutive season. The team’s performance at the rainy, weather-delayed Pac-12 Championships in Oregon epitomized the team’s determination by compiling a 1-under round on the final day to move up from eighth to fifth place. Freshman Carolina Melgrati earned WGCA Honorable Mention All-American and Pac-12 All-Conference Team selections in a banner collegiate debut season that also included participation in the prestigious Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA).
Ianello completed one of her top coaching jobs in the shortened 2020-21 season during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Arizona overcame late returns from international players, injuries and the uncertainty of college sports to make the NCAA Championships for a 23rd time in program history. Not only did the team reach NCAA’s, Arizona became the only program in the nation to reach the semifinals of match play in the 2018, 2019 and 2021 NCAA Championships. The Wildcats’ dramatic, made-for-tv run through stroke play and match play in Scottsdale came in the program’s eighth trip to the NCAA Championships in Ianello’s 11th season as head coach.
The 2010 and 2019 Pac-12 Coach of the Year has also developed student-athletes into the elite levels of collegiate success. Yu-Sang Hou became a three-time WGCA All-American in 2021 giving Arizona five student-athletes receiving eight All-America honors during Ianello’s tenure at the helm of the program.
The 2018 national championship season was straight out of a Hollywood script as the Wildcats entered NCAA Regionals after finishing in the top three of its previous five events, including wins at El Tigre Invitational and the PING/ASU Invitational. Using top-15 finishes from Gigi Stoll and Yu-Sang Hou at 4-under, the Wildcats finished fourth at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The magical, made-for-tv moments began in the final round of stroke play when Bianca Pagdanganan sank a 25-foot eagle putt to force a playoff that ended with a birdie putt from Pagdanganan on the second playoff hole. The Cats edged top-seeded UCLA in the quarterfinals of match play as Pagdanganan clinched another win with a birdie putt on her 18th hole. Arizona then dismantled Stanford, four to one, in the semifinals to face Alabama in the championships of match play.
True to form for the entire run in Stillwater, Arizona took the Crimson Tide to extra holes and Haley Moore would sink the national championship-winning putt in sudden death to give Arizona its third national title in program history.
Under Ianello's leadership the Cats have reached the NCAA Regionals in 10 seasons with eight trips to the NCAA Championships, as well as one conference championship in 2015. In that time frame the Wildcats have had 24 members of the All Pac-12 team, 24 members of the Pac-12 All-Academic team, a Freshman of the Year and a Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The only season in which the Wildcats did not participate was the 2019-20 season when the campaign was cut short due to COVID-19.
In 2019, Ianello was named Pac-12 Co-Coach of the Year after leading the Cats to the NCAA semifinals for the second year in a row. The Wildcats fell to eventual champion, Duke, on the 18th hole of the final match. Ianello's squad had three WGCA All-Americans.
In 2017, the Wildcats had two individual winners in Haley Moore at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate and Wanasa Zhou at the Mountain View Collegiate. The Cats won the Mountain View Collegiate by 21 strokes, while Zhou set a new Wildcat record for lowest 54 hole score with 203 strokes (-13). Haley Moore was named a WGCA second-team All-American, while Moore and Quihuis were named to the All Pac-12 First Team. Zhou was named the Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Wildcats reached the NCAA Regionals at UGA Golf Course, finishing tenth.
Arizona finished the 2016 season tying for ninth at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The Wildcats won the Windy City Collegiate Classic as well as the Wildcat Invitational throughout the season.
Arizona women’s golf won the Pac-12 Championship in April 2015, the eighth in program history. The Wildcats won with a five-stroke lead thanks to Wanasa Zhou’s final round of 65, tied for the best round in Arizona history with Marisa Baena’s 65 from 1996. The squad went on to finish tied for fifth at the NCAA Championships and advance to the first-ever match play portion of the championships. Zhou earned the NCAA Elite 89 Award, given to the championships participant with the highest GPA.
In 2015, Tucson native Krystal Quihuis was named WGCA Honorable Mention All-America, Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention. Both Lindsey Weaver and Manon Gidali earned All-Pac-12 First-Team accolades. Weaver also collected WGCA Second-Team All-America accolades.
The Pac-12 All-Academic team included Zhou, Kendall Prince and Weaver while Prince and Zhou earned WGCA All-American Scholar honors. Golfweek also tabbed Weaver (second team), Gidali (honorable mention) and Quihuis (honorable mention) for its All-America teams.
In 2013-14, Arizona finished tied for second at the Pac-12 Championships, seventh at the NCAA Regional Championships and tied for seventh at the NCAA Championships. Weaver was named second-team All-American by the WGCA as both she and Wanasa Zhou earned All-Pac-12 honors. Arizona finished in the top-10 in all 12 events from the fall and spring, earning six top-five finishes. The Wildcats finished first at the SunTrust Gator Invitational, hosted by the University of Florida in March. Weaver finished second overall at the 2014 Pac-12 Championships and tied for 16th place at the NCAA Championships. She was Arizona’s top finisher in five tournaments during the season, and won the individual medal at the Windy City Classic.
Playing four sophomores and one freshman, the Wildcats earned a top-10 finish at the 2013 NCAA Championships. Arizona finished eighth after carding rounds of 298, 295, 297 and 300 for a total of 1190 (+38). The Wildcats were one of four Pac-12 teams to finish in the top 10.
In 2013, Gidali was named WGCA All-America Honorable Mention. During the season, Gidali earned five top-10 finishes and two top-five placings, including an individual win at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational. She compiled a season stroke average of 73.61, shooting 12 rounds at or below par in 11 tournaments and 34 rounds of play. She collected a season-low round of 68 at the PING/ASU Invitational and a season-low tournament of 213 (-3) at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational.
During the 2012 season, UA won three tournaments, earned top-three finishes in two others and brought three individual titles back to Tucson. Nikki Koller and Isabelle Boineau earned scholastic honors from the conference while Gidali, Margarita Ramos and Boineau were named All-Pac-12 performers. Individually, Ramos was a qualifier for the NCAA Championships.
The Wildcats won two tournaments, earned top-three finishes at eight events and earned a runner-up finish at the final Pac-10 Championships in 2010-11. With a top-eight finish at the NCAA Regional Championships, UA earned a spot at the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas.
Individually, Boineau won two tournament titles and was named an NGCA second-team All-American and NGCA All-West Region. On the season, she had eight top 10 finishes and one top 20 finish. Boineau carded a low round of 69 (-3) and a low tournament of 212 (-4). She also collected 17 rounds at or below par.
From the Pac-10, Boineau earned first-team honors, Ramos was placed on the second team and Alejandra Llaneza and Kyndall Ardoin were named honorable mention. Academically, Koller was named second team Pac-10 All-Academic. Ardoin and Llaneza were named honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic.
Prior to being named head coach, Ianello helped guide the Wildcats to a fifth-place finish at the 2010 NCAA Women's Golf Championships in her final act as an assistant coach. The Wildcats regained a considerable amount of their previous luster in 2009-10, winning three tournaments including back-to-back postseason wins at the Pac-10 Championships and the NCAA West Regional Championships.
Before joining the coaching ranks, Ianello spent the previous five seasons playing professionally on the LPGA Tour, Futures Tour and the West Coast Ladies Golf Tour. Her best season was 2004 in which she finished 147th on the LPGA Tour money list. Ianello ranked eighth on the 2003 Futures Tour with a 72.1 stroke average and three top-10 finishes.
She played for the Wildcats from 1998-2003 as Laura Myerscough and was a part of one NCAA Championship (2000) and three Pac-10 Championship (2000, 2001, 2002) teams during her five seasons as a Wildcat. In 33 career collegiate appearances, Ianello posted a 75.92 stroke average to go with eight top-10 and four top-20 finishes.
She was a National Golf Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-American and a second-team All-Pac-10 selection in 2002. Ianello also earned All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention accolades in 2001 and 2003. She was the UA team captain as a senior in 2002-03.
Originally from Charleston, Ill., Ianello was the runner-up at the 2000 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship. She also played in the 2001, 2002 and 2004 U.S. Women's Open, the 2002 Curtis Cup and represented the U.S. at the 2000 and 2002 World Amateur Championship. For three seasons (2000-03), she was ranked in the top 10 in Golfweek magazine's amateur rankings.
Ianello earned her degree in physical education from the University of Arizona in 2007. She and her husband, Jeff, were married in the summer of 2009 and are parents to daughters Natalie and Joanna.
